Suns 'air out differences' in meeting

Steve Nash and Grant Hill left US Airways Center at 11:10 p.m. Saturday night, sitting in on 45 minutes of a one-hour, closed-door meeting with Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver, General Manager Steve Kerr and coaches.

Eleven hours later, they were in another meeting Sunday, when Porter said players and coaches "aired out differences" and watched game film.

"I've been on teams where guys don't like each other at all," Porter said. "But when we stepped on the floor, I respected that guy, and I knew he had my back. Some of that's not present right now. . . . At times it looks like we're not together on the floor."

The Suns' first 3-7 stretch since the 29-win season of 2003-04 has prompted such action. They lost 122-111 Saturday to Chicago, whose owner had called its season "embarrassing." Playing its third road game in the past four nights, the Bulls posted a season scoring high at Phoenix.

"We have to find that confidence and belief again," Nash said. "That concerning. That's what we're spending a lot of our time and our sleepless nights thinking about. It's been a bad season."

Shaquille O'Neal said "excuse time is over" and ripped the Suns defense, saying teammates need to "man up" 12 times in a 3 1/2-minute interview.

"We have to figure it out," Kerr said. "If the pieces don't fit, that's on me."